THE sale of Guyana’s next share of oil from the operations of ExxonMobil could earn the country a significant amount of revenue if prices remain constant or fluctuates marginally.

At end of Tuesday, the cost for Brent – the benchmark Guyana uses to sell its crude – stood at approximately US$120 per barrel. Should this remain the case when the country sells its next one-million-barrels of oil in a matter of days, the country would rake in as much as US$120 million.

In the coming years, Guyana is looking to position itself as a key producer with the capacity to cushion some of the supply shortfalls on the global market.

Oil and gas revenues are being generated from the ExxonMobil operations, offshore Guyana.

As it is now, the company has four sanctioned projects offshore Guyana. Of those, Liza Phase One is producing approximately 130,000 barrels per day, using the Liza Destiny floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, while the Liza Phase Two, which started production in February, is steadily ramping up to its capacity of 220,000 barrels per day, using the Liza Unity FPSO vessel.

The third project, Payara, is expected to produce 220,000 barrels per day; construction of its production vessel, the Prosperity FPSO, is running approximately five months ahead of schedule, with start-up likely before year-end 2023. The fourth project, Yellowtail, is expected to produce 250,000 barrels per day when the One Guyana FPSO comes on stream in 2025.

ExxonMobil is also moving ahead with plans for its fifth development project in the Stabroek Block, Uaru, which is expected to produce up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day.

“These projects will bring huge benefits to Guyana,” President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, said during a brief interview released by ExxonMobil.

It was reported that returns from the sector are expected to catapult Guyana to the ranks of wealthiest countries in the Western Hemisphere, thereby increasing the government’s fiscal space to invest in initiatives geared at expanding the economy, and improving the overall welfare of citizens.

In order to solidify the foundation of Guyana’s economy and enhance the overall well-being and welfare of every Guyanese, the government is crafting a framework for development that will be sustained through prudent and effective investment of oil funds into education, health, infrastructure and the non-oil sectors.

Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, had said that the intention of the incumbent is to craft a framework for the future which will see more proceeds from the petroleum industry going toward Guyanese.

“… we have to spend the money to build the future, that is why we have made it clear in our manifesto, when we campaigned between 2015 and 2020, that money will be spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure and assistance to non-oil industries,” the Vice-President told residents of Region Six during a recent Cabinet outreach.

Those are the four areas that will attract the ‘bulk of the resources’ and are part of a broader plan to ensure that Guyana’s economy continues to thrive long after oil resources would have been exhausted.